Mirror Cabin

How to make a Mirror Cabin - Ingredients: A desert, a 70-year old ramshackle, a few mirrors, some colourful LED lights and a heaping portion of creativity. Viola!

In mid-October, well-regarded artist Phillip K. Smith III arrived in Joshua Tree, California, to unveil his latest project called Lucid Stead: a mind-bending installation composed of reflecting panels, lights and custom electronic equipment mounted on a humble timber shack. The humble hut sits on five acres of sand dotted with shrubs surrounded by federal land, which Smith had purchased in 2004.

During daytime, the structure appears ethereal and partially transparent thanks to strategically placed mirrors reflecting the sweeping vistas. By night, square and rectangular fields of color in red, green and blue fills the doors and windows. These LED lights are controlled by a computer that gradually changes hue.

The installation was planned as a two-day event for a few spectators, but it quickly turned into a destination for some 400 arts lovers.